Migrants who survived deadly crash get help from the community - and will need more
Eight migrants were killed and 10 others injured when they were run over at high speed outside a shelter in Brownsville, Texas, last May.
It’s been eight months since a speeding SUV crashed into a crowd of migrants at a bus stop outside of a shelter in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight men and injuring 10 others who had come to the U.S. seeking refuge.
Residents and humanitarian organizations in the Texas border region have come together to help the survivors and their families.
Three of the survivors — Monra Alberto Quevedo Silva, 32; Gabriel Gallardo, 27; and Raul Ramos, 28 — have been staying in a rental house in Harlingen, 25 miles north of Brownsville and the border, as they recover from their injuries and receive medical treatment.
“They’re going to be needing help the rest of their lives,” said Cindy Candia of Angry Tias and Abuelas, the organization leading efforts to help the men.
“They were able to relax and heal (physically), and now we’re at the point where the house is up for vacancy the second week of January,” Candia said. “I’ve been working with them trying to get housing.”
All but one of the victims are from Venezuela. Some of the injured are receiving care elsewhere in Brownsville and may return to Venezuela with family members, or have recovered and moved to other states.
The crash happened at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, May 7, a week before Mother’s Day. The men waiting at the bus stop had spent the night at the Ozanam Center shelter across the street. A bus would take them to downtown Brownsville, the next step toward connecting with their families in Chicago, New York and other cities. Most of the victims had recently arrived in the U.S., some of them just days earlier.
There was no bench, so some of the men were sitting on the curb while others were standing nearby. They had no chance to avoid the speeding SUV that went up onto the curb, flipped on its side and continued striking bodies until it stopped.
The three survivors recuperating in Harlingen sustained a variety of serious injuries.
Gabriel Gallardo’s left leg had to be amputated above the knee.
Monra Alberto Quevedo Silva suffered two broken legs and had a metal plate put in his right foot. He has had two failed skin grafts, and underwent a third procedure in December.
Raul Ramos has endured almost 10 operations — both of his legs and a foot were broken, and his pelvis, hips and digestive system had to be reconstructed. His most recent surgery was a colon resection. A Facebook video from October shows Raul walking a short distance, defying prognoses that it would take more than a year to walk again.
“They need to talk about that stuff,” Candia said. “It’s really hard to get them to do that. It’s tough, they'll tell me their problems and I’ll tell them ‘I hear you,’ but it hurts me.”
Monra, in a telephone interview on New Year’s Eve, said he and his housemates are working hard at recuperating from their injuries and appreciate all the support they are receiving. They are improving “poco a poco,” he said, little by little.
The most immediate concern is where the three will live when their stay at the house in Harlingen ends this month.
Gabriel and Raul are cousins, grew up together in Venezuela and worked on the ground crew at an airport in Colombia. They crossed the deadly Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama with their lifelong friend Richard Bustamante, who was killed in the crash outside the shelter.
Gabriel, who was studying to be an engineer, is married with two young sons. His wife and children are staying in Texas while he recovers.
Raul is married with a 2-year-old daughter. He and his family recently found a small apartment to rent in Harlingen, and Candia and others are helping them settle in.
Monra is an accomplished singer who has performed in Venezuela, Colombia and Peru. When volunteers from the group Grannies Respond visited the men in October, Monra sang a song in honor of one woman’s birthday. He has a son who lives elsewhere in the U.S. and has been able to talk by phone with him.
The families of the survivors, and the families of the men who died, have faced their own trauma, including watching horrific videos on social media of the men being struck by the speeding Range Rover and the scene immediately afterward. At least one mother learned her son was a victim by recognizing him in a video. (Information on the eight dead men and how to help the survivors is below.)
“We weren't able to get their wives across until August (three months after the crash),” Candia said of the spouses of Gabriel and Raul. “I told them they had to go through a lot, too, seeing those videos with bodies on the ground.”
The three men have applied for work permits and may qualify for U visas, a category reserved for victims of crimes in the United States that grants non-citizens temporary legal status.
George Alvarez, the driver who plowed into the crowd of migrants sitting on the curb at a bus stop, has been in jail since the May 7 crash. Alvarez, 35, of Brownsville, is scheduled for a jury trial Feb. 26.
He has been charged with eight counts of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, all felonies.
Candia said she doesn’t know if the survivors will be called as witnesses, or if they will attend the trial as spectators. “I told them if they want to go I’d help take them, and they said maybe,” she said. “One said no.”
To help the men financially, donate via the Angry Tias and Abuelas site, then use the contact form to send a message specifying that your donation is for “Venezuelan families.”
“We need help with everything,” Monra said, “because we haven’t been in the United States for very long. Passing the time as we recover has been hard. Any kind of help that people can give us would be good.”
Community members have been reaching out in various ways, with meals, furniture, transportation and social gatherings.
Team Brownsville, in particular, has spent more than $25,000 on rent, phone cards, clothing, food, furniture and medical bills, and their volunteers took the men shopping for ingredients to make hallacas, a traditional Venezuelan Christmas food.
Christmas also included turkeys donated by a legal aid organization and medical students, and the Catholic Daughters brought gifts for Raul’s and Gabriel’s children. Last weekend, two members of Team Brownsville invited the men to their home to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Candia listed some of the many organizations that have helped alongside Angry Tias and Abuelas and Team Brownsville — the Ozanam Center, Border Workers United, Texas Civil Rights Project, ProBAR (South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project), United Church of Christ Rio Grande Valley, Mateo25:35, Iglesia Bautista Brownsville, Grannies Respond, Texas Ramps, Catholic Charities, Salvation Army, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and La Posada Providencia.
“Without these orgs, it would not have been possible to help these young men,” Candia wrote on Facebook. “They nor anyone did not deserve to have this tragedy happen to them.”
The three men recovering in Harlingen, Texas
The men who died
Here are details about the men who were killed, from various news reports in Venezuela and other sources. Families of several victims opted for cremation, but others arranged for the remains to be repatriated to Venezuela. “The last body was just sent back two weeks ago,” Candia said recently.
José Javier Carrio Moreno, 18, the youngest victim. The fútbol aficionado had arrived at the border with his parents and 2-year-old brother, all planning to go to New York. U.S. immigration officials separated José from them because he was 18. The rest of the family was in another shelter 10 minutes away when José was killed. "I think the best way to honor my son is for us to continue, because returning would be like giving up and José would not have wanted it,” his father was quoted on Instagram. “After saying goodbye we will go to New York.”
Cristian Jesus Sangroni Rodriguez, 19. Cristian was one of two victims who died at a hospital, not at the scene. His mother, a street vendor, had just sent money for her son’s bus fare to San Antonio. She recognized Cristian in one of the videos from the scene showing the victims lying on the ground.
Brayan Garcia, 24, from Colombia, was married with a daughter, who was seven months old at the time of the crash. He befriended Cristian while crossing the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama.
Hector David Medina Medero, 24, a barber who was planning to join his mother in Chicago. He used his skill as a barbero to cut hair at the shelter before he was killed. His father is a police chief in Venezuela.
Enyerbeth Cabarcas Meza, 23, He crossed the border with his mother and other family members, but was separated from them by U.S. immigration. They were en route to Chicago, where his stepfather lives.
Luis Jeffrhey Matute Vasquez, 31. He had lived in Ecuador for several years with his wife and five children before traveling to the U.S.. He was not killed instantly, but died in a hospital one day before his 32nd birthday.
Jorge Luis Flores Colina, whose age has been reported as both 48 and 34 years old. He was a mason, and arrived at the U.S. border with his wife and two nephews. He was waiting at the bus stop to meet up with his brother in Texas.
Richard Alejandro Bustamante Perez, 27, a former police investigator in Venezuela who also owned a small meat market. He crossed the Darién Gap with friends Raul Ramos and Gabriel Gallardo en route to the United States, and planned to fly to New York where his wife’s family lives. Ten minutes before he was killed, he talked on the phone with his wife and mother back home and sent them a selfie. They learned of his death on social media.
Thanks, Jim, for this. Donated. 🦋💞
Beautifully written, honoring the dignity of these good men and their families. Cindy Candia has been like a family member, truly a Tia, to these men and their families, coordinating virtually every aspect of their lives here in Harlingen. For Wagner Geri above, go to the website of the Angry Tias and Abuelas (a link in the article) and find the donate button. Cindy is one of the Angry Tias and Abuelas.
I wish this article could have a wide distribution. Again, great journalism, beautifully done!